FFCON21 Keynote Interview: May 13
The Digital War: China vs USA and What it Means for Tech Innovation and Global Fintech Markets
Winston Ma, CFA & Esq. Edit Profile
Chairman of Advisory Board, ThreeFold Tech; Author of The Hunt for Unicorns and The Digital War; former Managing Director of CIC
https://amazon.ca/Hunt-Unicorns-Sovereign-Reshaping-Investment/dp/1119746604Winston Wenyan Ma, CFA & Esq.
Author of The Hunt for Unicorns and The Digital War
former Managing Director of CIC Adjunct Professor, NYU School of Law
Winston Ma is an investor, attorney, author, and adjunct professor in the global digital economy. He is one of a small number of native Chinese who have worked as investment professionals and practicing capital markets attorneys in both the United States and China. Most recently for 10 years, he was Managing Director and Head of North America Office for China Investment Corporation (CIC), China’s sovereign wealth fund.
At CIC’s inception in 2007, he was among the first group of overseas hires by CIC, where he was a founding member of both CIC’s Private Equity Department and later the Special Investment Department for direct investing (Head of CIC North America office 2014-2015). He had leadership roles in global investments involving financial services, technology (TMT), energy and natural resources sectors, including the setup of West Summit (Huashan) Capital, a cross-border growth capital fund in Silicon Valley, which was CIC’s first overseas tech investment.
Prior to that, Mr. Ma served as the deputy head of equity capital markets at Barclays Capital, a vice president at J.P. Morgan investment banking, and a corporate lawyer at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP.
A nationally certified Software Programmer as early as 1994, Mr. Ma is the book author of China’s Mobile Economy (Wiley 2016, among “best 2016 business books for CIOs”), Digital Economy 2.0 (2017 Chinese), The Digital Silk Road (2018 German), China’s AI Big Bang (2019 Japanese), and Investing in China (Risk Books, 2006). His new books are “The Hunt for Unicorns: How Sovereign Funds Are Reshaping Investment in the Digital Economy” (Wiley October 2020) and “The Digital War – How China’s Tech Power Shapes the Future of AI, Blockchain, and Cyberspace” (Wiley January 2020).
Mr. Ma has served on the boards of multinational listed and private companies. He is currently on the advisory board of Open Mineral and Global SWF. He was selected a 2013 Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum (WEF) and has been a member of the Council for Long-Term Investing and Council for Digital Economy and Society.
Mr. Ma earned his MBA from the University of Michigan Ross Business School (Beta Gamma Sigma) and his master of law from the New York University School of Law (Hauser Global Scholar). He earned bachelor of science and bachelor of law degrees from Fudan University in Shanghai, China. He is an adjunct professor at NYU School of Law (current course “Sovereign Investments & Regulations”) and a member of New York University (NYU) President’s Global Council since inception. In 2014 he received the NYU Distinguished Alumni Award.
Author of The Hunt for Unicorns and The Digital War
former Managing Director of CIC Adjunct Professor, NYU School of Law
Winston Ma is an investor, attorney, author, and adjunct professor in the global digital economy. He is one of a small number of native Chinese who have worked as investment professionals and practicing capital markets attorneys in both the United States and China. Most recently for 10 years, he was Managing Director and Head of North America Office for China Investment Corporation (CIC), China’s sovereign wealth fund.
At CIC’s inception in 2007, he was among the first group of overseas hires by CIC, where he was a founding member of both CIC’s Private Equity Department and later the Special Investment Department for direct investing (Head of CIC North America office 2014-2015). He had leadership roles in global investments involving financial services, technology (TMT), energy and natural resources sectors, including the setup of West Summit (Huashan) Capital, a cross-border growth capital fund in Silicon Valley, which was CIC’s first overseas tech investment.
Prior to that, Mr. Ma served as the deputy head of equity capital markets at Barclays Capital, a vice president at J.P. Morgan investment banking, and a corporate lawyer at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP.
A nationally certified Software Programmer as early as 1994, Mr. Ma is the book author of China’s Mobile Economy (Wiley 2016, among “best 2016 business books for CIOs”), Digital Economy 2.0 (2017 Chinese), The Digital Silk Road (2018 German), China’s AI Big Bang (2019 Japanese), and Investing in China (Risk Books, 2006). His new books are “The Hunt for Unicorns: How Sovereign Funds Are Reshaping Investment in the Digital Economy” (Wiley October 2020) and “The Digital War – How China’s Tech Power Shapes the Future of AI, Blockchain, and Cyberspace” (Wiley January 2020).
Mr. Ma has served on the boards of multinational listed and private companies. He is currently on the advisory board of Open Mineral and Global SWF. He was selected a 2013 Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum (WEF) and has been a member of the Council for Long-Term Investing and Council for Digital Economy and Society.
Mr. Ma earned his MBA from the University of Michigan Ross Business School (Beta Gamma Sigma) and his master of law from the New York University School of Law (Hauser Global Scholar). He earned bachelor of science and bachelor of law degrees from Fudan University in Shanghai, China. He is an adjunct professor at NYU School of Law (current course “Sovereign Investments & Regulations”) and a member of New York University (NYU) President’s Global Council since inception. In 2014 he received the NYU Distinguished Alumni Award.
